OUR HEROES – THEIR STORIES

Albert “Bert” Jourdain NX 153060, the last 2/33rd veteran to serve on the Battalion Association committee, was a champion athlete who showed equal tenacity in joining the Army under age to fight in World War II.

Bert was Association secretary from 2009 to 2014, and then assistant secretary up to his death in 2017. The remarkable story about his enlistment began as a 17-year-old, when, like many other underage young men, he tried to enlist but was repeatedly rejected at his local enlistment centre, Marrickville, in Sydney. Bert and a mate, also aged only 17, “went bush”, going from town-to-town trying to join up, but failed.

Returning home, Bert drove the enlistment sergeant at Marrickville “mad” for months, until the sergeant one day pointed to a lamp post, outside the recruitment office, and handed him a light bulb, saying: “I’ll put you in the Army if you can climb up that pole and put this globe into that light.” Bert somehow managed the difficult task, but there was a more difficult task ahead. Because he was under age he needed his parents’ permission and signature.

He decided to forge the signatures of his father and mother, having been advised by the sergeant to do so using his left hand rather than his normal right hand to disguise the writing. When told what he’d done, without her permission, his mother was horrified. She said she would cancel his enlistment. However, Bert’s father, a World War I veteran said: “You might as well let him go because you know that sooner or later he will.”

The second eldest of nine children, Bert was born in Bankstown, NSW, but grew up around Cronulla. He would tell you he had a “good” life. He saw action in New Guinea, Borneo and Balikpapan.

Bert Jourdain
Photo: Wendy Chung,
The Australian institute of
Professional Photography (AIPP) Reflections Project

After the war, Bert got into dirt bikes and could often be seen racing at the track at Vineyard, west of Sydney. His interest in things mechanical led him into the motor trade and he became a panel beater, eventually opening his own business in Milperra. He retired in the early 1980s.

Bert was for many years, the custodian of the Battalion Association banner, almost up to the time of his passing. He was fiercely protective of the banner, marching with pride behind it every Anzac Day. He took on the responsibility of reciting the Ode at all assocition gatherings, which he did with solemnity and deep respect.

Bert loved to run. He often told of being left in charge of Japanese P.O.W.s at the end of the war. He said he was under orders not to harm them when taking them out on work details. He said: “I never laid a hand on them but I made the buggers run, and I set the pace”.

Bert’s passion for running led him to join the Bankstown Sports Athletic Club where he was a regular runner right up to the age of 92 then he walked at training instead.

The respect and high regard, in which Bert was held, was plain to see by the turnout present at his funeral, he was given a guard of honour and a standing ovation as he was taken to his final rest. Bert will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Pat, daughters, Lee and Michelle. His grandchildren, great grandchildren, and his many friends.

The words of his daughter, Lee, sums up the Bert we knew, “Our father was a gentleman in the old fashioned tradition. A fair dinkum Digger with great respect for our flag. Dad would give you the shirt off his back and the last five bucks in his pocket. He was a quiet intelligent man ….. Occasionally a stubborn man. A larrikin. A story teller. A mate”.